Lameness

Lameness is another key production disease of cattle with significant welfare and economic effects. Quoted figures suggest that 25% of the national dairy herd is lame at any one time so focusing on this area and reducing its incidence is paramount.

We actively encourage regular mobililty scoring using the DairyCo scale from 0-3. We always have a steady supply of keen veterinary students who perform this for us to give an incite into lameness incidence on your farm. Mobility scoring is also becoming part of the requirements for certain milk buyers and for health planning.

In combination with the mobility scores we also anaylse lameness data from farm records and lay foot trimmers to assess which problems are most frequently found. This helps us to advise on what changes to put in place to avoid problems such as sole ulcers, digital dermatitis and white line disease.